The number of students enrolling in full-time Master of Business Administration programs decreased 20 percent at the W.P. Carey School of Business, compared to last year's figures.
Robert Mittelstaedt, dean of the W.P. Carey School of Business, blames the decrease on the fear of leaving a full-time job in a slowing economy to pursue an MBA.
"[An MBA] is viewed as the ticket to entry in the business world," Mittelstaedt said. "When the economy gets worse, people worry about leaving a full-time job to earn an MBA."
He also attributed the decrease to heightened U.S. security, making it more difficult for foreign students to come to the United States.
"The U.S. has been a destination for business education for decades outside the U.S.," Mittelstaedt said. "Since 9/11, the state department has made it more difficult to get visas."
Current enrollment in the full-time program is 206 students, down from 257 last year, said business school spokeswoman Liz Farquhar.
MBA student Josh Fotheringham said the program itself isn't the reason enrollment is down.
"The decline is due more to the sickly economy than the program quality," Fotheringham said.
Mittelstaedt said a typical MBA student is between the ages of 26 and 27 and has had some work experience.
"The problem here is across the industry," Mittelstaedt said. "The dot-com industry boomed and applications went up, but a crash came. There has been a decline in the economy over the last three years."
But the total number of MBA students, including working adult programs, online classes and full-time students, has increased by half a percent compared to last year's figures, Farquhar said.
And enrollment in part-time programs is up 7 percent, she said.
Rather than leaving full-time jobs when the economy is down, those seeking an MBA can enroll in these alternative programs geared toward flexibility for working adults, Farquhar said.
"These different MBA programs add to the W. P. Carey School because they make it possible for somebody who is on a strong career path to get the W. P. Carey MBA without leaving their job," said Lee McPheters, associate dean of MBA programs.
Farquhar said the "Working Adult" programs include evening classes at both ASU Main and Downtown and at two schools in Shanghai and Beijing.
"Most people in the working students programs are working right in the Phoenix area, so the W. P. Carey School can actually provide a service to local employers by giving advance management training to people they want to promote," McPheters said.
Reach the reporter at katherine.ruark@asu.edu.
